Monday, April 26, 2010

Never Discuss Religion or Politics - whoops!


Religion is a tricky thing.

For me, religion has always been about faith. And faith is about believing in what you can't see, touch, feel, smell, etc. Any time there is something about my faith I can not fully grasp (like the Trinity, or annulments) I always just agree to live by the Church's teaching on the matter and will ask God for a clear answer if/when I get to Heaven. I guess I sort of have the faith of a child.

My husband, however is a truth seeker. He has a very strong faith and has always questioned why things are the way they are. He searches out the reasons behind the beliefs and researches and discusses topics until he gets a satisfactory answer. He loves theology and philosophy, and that is what makes him such a great religion teacher. He has already studied the proofs for God's existence, and questioned the morality of human nature, so that when his students ask him something - he is ready with a logical response.

I think both approaches to faith are fine, as long as they are all based on truth.

What makes both of us crazy is when people accept ALL religious beliefs as truth. That can not be possible. If I said the sky is blue, and you say the sky is green, only one of us is stating the truth. And we can't both be right. The same theory holds true to religion. If I say there is a God, and you say there isn't a God - one of us is correct and one is not. We can't both be correct in saying the complete opposite of each other.

I think this is one of the reasons that society is so "messed up". Everybody feels that whatever anybody thinks about religion is just fine, they are all acceptable, they are all true.

But what happens when that philosophy starts to spill over into other areas, such as sin. We don't want to be "judgemental" when someone is sinning, so we ignore it and begin to accept it. And while we should ALWAYS love the person who sins, we should NEVER love the sin. But we are so accustomed to stay out of it for fear of being labeled as hateful or judgemental that what we are really doing is helping to perpetuate it.
Ten years ago, people would never have believed that we would be legalizing same-sex marriage, yet here we are. In just the past couple of years, the women who commit adultery with celebrities have made a business for themselves...making money off their sinful ways. And the celebrities become cool by checking into sex rehab, instead of being blacklisted.
We have slowly gotten ourselves to ignore truth and traditional values. "To each his own" we say, "Live and let live" - but what a disservice we are doing by accepting these evils as normal, okay, or even good. It's a very slippery slope, and we seem to be sledding down on the fastest toboggan ever.

Yes, we are human beings with free will, and God has given us the right to choose what we want to believe. But just because we can choose it doesn't mean we always make the right choice. There is absolute truth and fallacy, there is good and evil, and there are facts and opinions. Let's not get them confused.

8 comments:

  1. Great post Colleen! So true! And we can see it in history . . . it is a slippery slope that has gotten socitey to where it is today. Even Christian started to turn their heads or even say ok to things years ago and things ahve just gotten worse.

    My hubby works for the diocese here and the sam sex marriage debate has been in "our back yard". I have heard many of the "inside goings on" and I firmly believe that we cannot just sit back anymore and NOT speak up. We have to be vocal. We have to stand you for what is right and our faith.

    Jesus is our example. He was loving and gentle, but when he saw sin he spoke the truth and called it what it was.

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  2. Couldn't have said it better myself. Youre great faith is only one of many reasons that I love you.

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  3. I love when you talk about religion or politics...or breast feedings. I love reading what others think...because I think so much on this!
    I couldn't agree more...do you know almost all religions belief in the same basic truths...just different symbolism and different histories and different faith? There ARE universal truths for sure.
    You know what I think most about? How much marriage has changed...how many couples live together before, how dating and sex is so casual and non-commital. We got a big wedding invitation a couple weeks ago and the couple have been living together in a house they bought at least a year ago if not more. I am an old lady I guess...it just seems so weird! Why have a big wedding, why have everyone give gifts and celebrate your new life together...if you already HAVE everything for your new life together, because it's already OLD? Things change I guess. But the "old" ways always seem to work out the best...they were on to something there....like those universal truths of life, maybe???

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  4. Keep talking Colleen, because you say it so much better than I ever could :)c

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  5. loved this post and couldn't agree more. though we have a more loving God than we can comprehend I think that he hates the attitude that you're describing. If you believe that scripture is Truth you can't pick and choose what you take and leave. Jesus says "I am the way, the Truth & the life. No one comes to the Father apart from me." I don't think that Jesus is making a negotiable statement there...you know?

    thanks for sharing

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  6. Thank you for visiting my blog and now I am happy to visit yours! Your picture had caught my eye on your comment on Clover lane... my girls have a Mary just like that in their room! SO warming to read that there are those out there that are on the same page as we are! I feel like I am raising my children in such a different way than mainstream, but in my heart I know that what we are teaching them IS right! Thank you for posting your thoughts!

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